Broken Promise, Broken Heart Version 2
by csvonb
Summary: Re-write of Broken Promise, Broken Heart. Taylor and Chad were childhood best friends until the fateful day when Troy Bolton arrived. Now in their sophomore year in high school, everything is about to change again. CHANGED PENNAME: was vb0142, now csvonb
1. Trailer

**A/N- **Hey everyone. This is vb0142, formerly opi-1. I am going to re-write Broken Promise, Broken Heart. I hadn't updated in a year because I couldn't grasp an idea to write about, so I think the best thing to do is tear it all down and start all over again. Same idea, different story. Hope you enjoy. The first chapter will be up within the next few days. Please review.

_They used to be best friends (shows Chad chasing Taylor _

_around the park with a worm in his hands)_

"Chad, stop it! That's icky!" a four-year-old Taylor shouted.

"It's just a worm, Taylor! It's cool, look!" the five-year-old Chad shouted back.

"Chad, put it down!" Taylor ordered. Chad reluctantly put the worm down. Taylor walked back over to Chad and they sat in the grass.

"Taylor, will you promise me something?" Chad asked. Taylor nodded. "Will you promise me we'll be friends forever, no matter what?"

"I promise," Taylor said. They linked pinkies.

_Until one fateful day in Middle School when everything changed_

_(shows a 7__th__ grade version of Troy with a map in his hands)_

"Hey, dude, you need some help?" Chad asked the boy.

"Yeah, I'm looking for room 229" the boy answered.

"Oh, I'm heading there too," Chad said.

"Oh cool, I'm Troy" Troy said.

"Chad," Chad replied.

_She was replaced (shows Taylor at Chad's locker_

_while he's taking out his books)_

"Are we still going to Lenny's Pizza after school?" Taylor asked.

"Oh shot, Tay, I'm sorry I forgot! I'm playing ball with Troy after school. Can we reschedule?" Chad answered. Troy waved him over. Chad waved back and then left.

"Umm sure… I guess" Taylor replied. She sighed and walked to her next class.

_And soon forgotten (shows Taylor standing at her locker_

_Looking at her watch. She sighs, picks up her bag, and leaves)_

"So much for that promise," Taylor mutters.

_Now in their sophomore year in high school, everything is about to change again._

**Broken Promise, Broken Heart **

**(Version 2.0)**


	2. The Fateful Meeting

**A/N- **Hey. I am so so sorry that I haven't updated. I know that I promised that I would update more frequently, but I've had so much going on (school stuff, friends stuff, etc). Everything's starting to sort itself out now, so I think I'll be able to update more often. I'll try to update once a week. So please forgive me, and please read and review. I hope you enjoy.

- - - -

"Tay! Wait up!" the 12-year-old Chad shouted to his best friend who was engrossed in her book as she walked through the hallway to her pre-Algebra class. At hearing Chad's voice from down the hall, Taylor stopped, lowered her book, and turned around.

"Hurry up slowpoke! Surely I would think that your basketball skills would make you faster than _this_!" she replied with a big smile on her face.

"Ha ha," Chad said, panting, slowing down to reach Taylor's pace as he caught up to her.

"So what's up?" Taylor asked.

"Can't a guy just randomly come up and talk to his friend?" Chad replied innocently.

"Well, yes, but not when you have that sheepish grin on your face that just screams 'I need to ask you a favor'" Taylor said, laughing.

"Fineee you caught me" Chad admitted, "I need help on my science project so I was wondering if you wanted to be partners."

"Sure, why not," Taylor shrugged. Chad sighed relieved. "You didn't believe I'd say no, did you?" she asked.

"I hoped you wouldn't," Chad grinned. Taylor playfully nudged his shoulder as they walked down the hall.

"Who's that?" Taylor asked, pointing to a new boy who looked disoriented and lost as he looked at his map and then at doors around the hallway.

"I don't know, but let's go find out" Chad said. He walked up to the new kid. "Hey, dude, you need some help?" Chad asked the boy.

"Yeah, I'm looking for room 229" the boy answered.

"Oh, I'm heading there too," Chad said.

"Oh cool, I'm Troy" Troy said.

"Chad," Chad replied.

"And I'm Taylor" Taylor interjected. Troy nodded in response. "Well, here's my room so I'll meet up with you later for the project?" Taylor asked Chad.

"Yep, sounds like a plan" Chad replied.

- - - - - -

Taylor waited in the lunch line in the cafeteria. She looked over to the lunch table that she shared with Chad and was surprised to see an addition to the table, the new guy, Troy. She shrugged as she picked up a tray. _"This will be an interesting change" _she thought. She grabbed her lunch and then made her way over to the table, where she found Chad and Troy deeply engaged in a conversation about basketball. Like Chad, Troy's dad had him playing basketball since about just after he learned how to walk. Taylor rolled her eyes at the conversation. _"Sports"_ she scoffed in her head. She pulled out her torn copy of _Romeo and Juliet_ and began to read it over again for the umpteenth time. The bell rang, and Taylor was surprised to see that Chad and Troy had already left the cafeteria. _"Ugh! I can't believe Chad left me here!"_ Taylor thought, annoyed that her friend had ditched her for the new guy.

- - - - - -

"Taylor! Taylor! Wait up!" Chad shouted and ran down the hall later that day. Taylor, still angry, continued at her pace. "Taylor!" Chad finally caught up to her. "What's your deal?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you calling me?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah! I've just been chasing you since you passed the gym," Chad responded, waving his hand in the general direction of the hall, hundreds of yards back.

"I didn't hear you" Taylor shrugged.

"Well, that's obvious," Chad said, then he noticed something in Taylor's expression. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Taylor replied, attempting at better setting her face to not give away to Chad that she was upset with him. "So, what time do you want to come over to start the project?"

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. So it turns out Troy's in Mrs. Benden's class also, and I thought that since he moved here in the middle of the unit, maybe he could work with us? It's pretty crazy for him right now, as you can probably understand… so what do you think?" he looked at her eagerly. Taylor sighed.

"That's fine, I guess," Taylor replied. Chad grinned.

"Thanks, Tay," he said, "Umm how about the three of us just go to work at my house right after school? My mom can give you a ride back to your place, I know she's been looking forward to seeing your mom again."

"Sounds good," Taylor replied. She stopped at her locker and grabbed the books that she would need for her homework. Chad left to grab his books from his locker. Taylor met up with him and Troy and the three made their way out to Chad's mom's car.

- - - - - -

"No way! You have a poster signed by Shaq! How'd you get it?! That's so awesome!" Troy asked, spying the poster hanging on Chad's wall next to his shelf of basketball trophies.

"I know!" Chad replied, "My uncle gave it to me for my birthday. He lives in LA and saw him somewhere when the Suns went to LA to play the Lakers."

"That's so cool!" Troy said, in awe, "Can I touch it?" Chad nodded. Troy gently reached his hand out and placed his fingers delicately over the signature, almost as if he would rub off some of its magic. "Wow," Troy he said as he traced his fingers over it. Chad laughed, while Taylor rolled her eyes. She never was really into basketball. She didn't see the appeal that the rest of her family and Chad's family saw in it. Taylor loved science and math, something which Chad found very hard to understand.

"Can we please get back to the project?" Taylor asked, exasperated, "We only have two weeks to get it done, and I can't afford anything less than an A." Chad laughed.

"Taylor, even if you got an F it wouldn't bring down your 'perfect' grade" he said then laughed again. Troy joined him in laughing, while Taylor blushed.

"My grade isn't perfect" she mumbled, embarrassed.

"Please, Miss. Straight A-plusses," Chad replied, still amused with Taylor's worrying over her grades.

**A/N­-** Thanks for reading! Please review :)


	3. A bit distant?

**A/N**- I'm feeling particularly inspired this week, so here's another chapter for you all this week. Please read and review. Thanks to all who read and reviewed the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this one.

Taylor glared at her cell phone angrily. Chad had told her that he would text her sometime in the morning telling her what time he was coming over, but she still hadn't received the text and it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. She sighed aggressively and pushed her phone off of the couch, smirking at the satisfying clunk it made as it hit the floor. It was a month since Troy arrived at the school, and during this month most of Chad's time was spent with Troy. The two boys had everything in common: from simple things such as color (they both loved the color red. "Wildcats!" Chad would often exclaim, eagerly awaiting the day that he could follow in his older brother's footsteps and join East High's Varsity basketball team. His older brother, Jack, was a junior and currently the captain of the team. Chad wished nothing but to be like him) to favorite video game (Taylor often wondered how many hours Troy and Chad wasted playing Halo. She didn't see what was so appealing about video games. She thought they doomed the brain to mush. But then again, she didn't see what the appeal was for basketball either). Taylor began to question why her friendship with Chad had lasted so long. She and he never really saw eye to eye on a lot of major things, but she distinctly remembered how they became friends…

_FLASHBACK_

"_Give it back!" a three-year-old Taylor whined as the mean boy held her favorite picture book just out of her reach. She jumped and reached for it and the boy snickered at her failing attempts at getting her 'A Picture Guide to Bugs' book back. She had been looking at the pictures on a rock at the park, when a group of boys came over and took it from her._

"_You're gonna have to try harder than that" the boy taunted her. He and his friends laughed. Tears began to form in her eyes. She wondered why the boy was being so mean._

"_Please give it to me," Taylor's lip quivered. She didn't want to start crying because she knew it would make the boys laugh more. But, the anticipation of her tears sent them howling with laughter. Taylor started to cry. She sat back down on the rock and pulled her knees to her chest._

"_HEY! What do you think you're doing!?" a four-year-old boy with crazy hair marched up and asked the bully._

"_We're just having a little fun" the bully replied, looking around at his friends who nodded._

"_Well, I don't think it's funny at all," Chad said, crossing his arms over his chest._

"_Who asked you porcupine head?" the bully retorted._

"_Just give her her book back," Chad said, exasperated, "What kind of bully needs to pick on little girls anyway?" The bully looked down embarrassed. He threw the book down near Taylor's feet and then motioned for his friends to leave with him._

"_I'm not a little girl!" Taylor pouted._

"_Oh yeah? How old are you?" Chad asked._

"_Three," Taylor said, putting up three fingers._

"_Well, I'm four. So, I'm a big boy and you're still a little girl" Chad replied. Taylor rolled her eyes. "I'm Chad," he introduced himself._

"_Taylor," she replied. _

_END FLASHBACK_

And then there was the day that Taylor knew that she and Chad were going to be best friends forever.

_FLASHBACK_

_Taylor and Chad were playing in the park, around the rock where they had first met. Every day, they came to that spot and played together. Their mom's met and became fast friends, and soon after the dad's met too. The families became friends and the Danforths and the McKessies became family friends. Chad, currently, was chasing Taylor with a work on a stick. _

"_Chad, stop it! That's icky!" a four-year-old Taylor shouted._

"_It's just a worm, Taylor! It's cool, look!" the five-year-old Chad shouted back. _

"_Chad, put it down!" Taylor ordered. Chad reluctantly put the worm down. Taylor walked back over to Chad and they sat in the grass. _

"_Taylor, will you promise me something?" Chad asked. Taylor nodded. "Will you promise me we'll be friends forever, no matter what?"_

"_I promise," Taylor said. They linked pinkies._

_They moved over and sat on their rock. They began to look for shapes in the clouds. _

"_Chad," Taylor said._

"_Yeah?" Chad asked. _

"_You're the bestest best friend" Taylor replied._

_END FLASHBACK_

Taylor sighed. How can such a close, tight-knit bond turn into something so distant with the addition of a new person? She shook off the thought, _"Just because he's been distant lately doesn't mean that he doesn't want to be friends anymore. He promised that we'd be friends forever, no matter what, and Chad's not one to break promises,"_ she thought. She looked expectantly at her phone, as if sheer will power would make it ring. It remained silent and ring-less. She got off of the couch, frustrated, and went into the kitchen to grab a snack. After grabbing a snack, she decided to walk to her friend Martha's house, which was a few streets down from hers. She left her phone at its place on the floor, so she wasn't able to receive the text message Chad sent her ten minutes after she left for the kitchen: "sorry couldn't text sooner, phone was dead and had to buy a new charger. I'm coming over in an hour… sound good?"

Taylor spent two hours at Martha's house. They discussed strategy for the East Middle School science team and then they decided to pop in a movie. By the time Taylor got back to her house, it was three hours after she had left. She saw Chad sitting on the step at the front door. She looked at him surprised.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Waiting for you like I have been for the past hour and a half. Where have you been?" Chad replied.

"Oh, I didn't know you were coming over," Taylor said.

"Didn't you get my text?" Chad asked.

"No, you never sent me a text," Taylor replied.

"Yes I did, I sent it right after I got back from the Verizon store to pick up a new charger," Chad said.

"Oh…" Taylor said, feeling guilty that she thought Chad had forgotten about her, "I just assumed you were with Troy…"

"And forgot about you?" Chad interjected. Taylor nodded. "Come on, Tay, you know I wouldn't forget about you. You're my best girl friend, and Troy's now my best guy friend."

"Okay," Taylor said, feeling even worse now.

"Come on, let's go hang out," Chad said. Taylor nodded and they walked into her house.

- - - - - -

Another month passed since the day Taylor found Chad sitting on her doorstep, and during this month Taylor noticed that Chad really was becoming more distant. He gave her a "hey" and a brief smile in the halls, or sometimes just a half-nod. He was constantly engaged in conversation with Troy. Chad and Taylor rarely talked, and he and Troy now sat at a table with to other basketball-obsessed seventh graders, Zeke and Jason. Taylor was left to sit with Martha, which she didn't mind much because she and Martha were friends, but she was still bothered that she was feeling such a disconnect from Chad in the past month.

"If it's really bothering you that much, just go talk to him later," Martha advised.

"I really don't know whether that's a good idea," Taylor replied.

"Well, you never know until you try," Martha said. Taylor bit into her apple and looked over at Chad, who had Troy, Zeke, and Jason all cracking up at a joke he said.

"I guess," Taylor said, looking back at Martha, who was looking at Taylor sympathetically. After lunch, Taylor went to Chad's locker and waited for him to return from the cafeteria. She heard his laughter before she saw him round the corner. He looked surprised to see her at his locker.

"Hey, I'll catch up with you guys later, okay?" Chad said to Troy, Zeke, and Jason.

"Yeah, man, no problem," Troy said.

"What's up?" Chad asked Taylor once his friends had left.

"Are we still going to Lenny's Pizza after school?" Taylor asked. When they were 9, Taylor and Chad had created a tradition where they would go to their favorite pizza place, Lenny's Pizza, one Thursday a month after school, and this Thursday was the Thursday they had designated the past month.

"Oh shoot, Tay, I'm sorry I forgot! I'm playing ball with Troy after school. Can we reschedule?" Chad answered. Troy waved him over. Chad waved back and then left.

"Umm sure… I guess" Taylor replied. She sighed and walked to her next class. "Come on, Tay, you know I wouldn't forget about you," Taylor repeated sarcastically under her breath, remembering the conversation she had had with Chad a month before, "Yeah right."

**A/N-** So… what did you think? Please review! So far, I'm just trying to give a little bit more background before I go to present-day HSM. For all who read the original version of this, you'll notice that I didn't do this first time around.


End file.
